Split Decisions
by DrYTeArS1990
Summary: OOT. Link continues his journey, but now he has a new travel partner. But the whole story takes an unexpected twist when someone his partner loves starts dying, and they must split up. And that is only the beginning of the chaos. CHAP 6 UP!
1. Just the Beginning

_Okay…So here is my first fanfic…Let me tell you this now…_

_This applies to the first 2 chapters…When text is in italics, it's Malon's POV. In normal, it's Link's POV. When bold, it's first person._

_Okay, well, I hope you enjoy! Sorry if it's a little slow…It'll get better, I promise!_

_Disclaimer: Must we always do this? sigh I do not, nor will I ever, own Zelda characters

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**Chapter 1 – Just the Beginning**

_**Tap tap tap**_

'**What is that noise!' Link rolled over onto his belly and covered his head with his pillow. However, doing so caused a massive wave of pain in his chest. He yelled loudly, but his voice was muffled by the pillow and no one who would have come to help heard it.**

_**Tap tap tap**_

'**That noise again!' It sounded like a knock on the door. But why was there a door? Where was he? He tried to yell out for someone who may be there, but taking a deep breath hurt his chest even more. So he just lay there, waiting for whoever was there to come in.**

**The door opened and closed. Footsteps on a hardwood floor grew closer. They were quiet, as if the person were wearing slippers. They probably were, Link concluded, so it must be the morning. And, sure enough, a rooster crow reached his ears.**

**Now, why was he in a bed…in a room with a hardwood floor…where a rooster crows? Last thing he remembered, he was at Hyrule Castle with the three spiritual stones, on his way to see Zelda…**

**Wait a minute. The white horse...Zelda and Impa had been running away…Running away from Ganondorf. So now his chance to see her again had been taken away, just like that. And now he didn't know what he was supposed to do next.**

**Link was mesmerized by her beauty the first time he saw her. Throughout all of the stories she told him that day, he never took his eyes away from hers. He thought he was in love. But, he was only ten, and ten-year-olds don't fall in love...But that's what it felt like…and that's what it still feels like. His enthusiasm for this journey came from her and the hope that success would bring them closer.**

**And now he hated that man, Ganondorf, and not just because he ruined his chance to see Zelda again. He knew he was a little too young to truly hate someone, but Ganondorf…It wasn't hard to hate him. He'd killed so many people, destroyed so many villages, taken so many innocent lives…And it was up to Link to stop it all. How a ten-year-old boy would save all of Hyrule was beyond him, but he wasn't going to find that out by lying in bed…And this pain in his chest was not going to help matters, either.**

**The bed mattress tilted with the added weight of another person sitting next to him.**

"**You're going to have to get up if you hope to get any better."**

**Link opened his eyes under the pillow, trying to process the voice. That voice, he recognized that voice. He _knew_ that voice…Without thinking, he sat up to face the person next to him, only to be met by even more pain.**

"**Ow!" he yelled, clutching his chest. He looked at the person next to him on the bed, and instantly he knew the long red hair and big blue eyes.**

"**Malon?" he said breathlessly. Any deep breath would cause pain. "What happened? Where am I?"**

"**You're at the ranch," she said, reaching over to dab cold water onto his forehead. "I found you unconscious last night in front of Hyrule castle."**

"**But why am I here?"**

"**I brought you here, of course! I couldn't leave you there on the ground all night! You're my fairy boy!"**

**Link cocked an eyebrow and gave her a curious look. "_Your_ fairy boy?"**

**Malon laughed. "Oh, you know what I mean!" She put the washcloth on a nearby table and dug in her pouch.**

"**I most certainly do not!" Link teased.**

**Malon shook her head and pulled a bottle out of her pouch. Inside the bottle was a red potion. "Here," she said, changing the subject. "Take this. It should help, but ultimately, you'll need sleep if you want to get better."**

**Judging by the quick change of subject, Link assumed that something was bugging her. Watching her intently for any signs that would tell him what was wrong, Link took the potion and drank it. He felt warmth in his chest and some of the pain went away. But he still ached, and he was still tired as hell. He'd been all over Hyrule with little rest, and he'd gone through three dungeons against many monsters. He was surprised, himself, that he had lasted this long.**

**Silence stretched between the two for what seemed like and hour or more. Malon took her sweet time to clean the bottle that once had red potion in it, so she could use it for something else later. She also took the washcloth she had dabbed Link's forehead somewhere else in the house. When she came back into the room, she avoided eye contact, as if looking at Link would make her cry.**

"**Malon?"**

**Slowly, she turned to face him, but didn't look up from the bottle she was now cleaning. It looked like it had milk in it before now.**

"**What's wrong?"**

"**It's nothing," Malon said quietly. "I'm just tired."**

**That had to be the saddest tired person Link had ever seen. But he didn't push her. "Okay." He stood up, ignoring the pain as much as he could, but he couldn't help but wince once or twice.**

"**Wait!" Malon said, holding up a hand to his chest. She put it down quickly. "Where are you going? You're still hurt!"**

"**To Hyrule Castle. There's something there I need to get."**

"**What?"**

"**I don't know. But it's in the moat."**

"**In the moat? What would be there?"**

"**Again, I don't know, but Zelda threw it there, and I need to go get it."**

**Malon lowered her head at the mention of Zelda. For some reason, there was a part of Zelda that she didn't like. Maybe it was the part of Link thinking he loves her…**

**She cleared the thought from her mind and looked at Link. "Then what are you going to do?" **

"**I don't know. Save more of Hyrule, I guess."**

**Malon looked down at the ground again. Then she looked up quickly, a serious look on her face. "I'm going with you."**

"**What! Malon, no! It's too dangerous! I'll never be able to live with myself if you got hurt!"**

"**I can't stay here knowing you're risking your life to save me and other people. I want to help."**

"**But…"**

"**I hate Ganondorf as much as you do."**

**Link was silent.**

**Malon sighed. "I can tell you hate him, I see it in your eyes when you think of him," she whispered.**

"**Malon…"**

"**I'm going, and you can't stop me!" she yelled.**

**Link raised his hands, signifying his surrender. "Okay, fine, but on one condition." He raised an index finger like a Mother scolding a child. "You stay behind me in fights. I don't want you getting hurt."**

**Malon nodded, grinning. "Okay!"**

_I made Link stay over one more night so he could regain some of his lost energy. It took some time, but he finally gave in and agreed to stay. He's so shy. It's kind of cute. It was a good thing we had a spare bedroom, or he would have to sleep with my dad or Ingo…Dad snores, and Ingo is…Ingo…Both were bad ideas…And if he slept in my room, that would not sit well with my dad._

_Plus, I'd feel a bit uncomfortable. Link is a strong, courageous hero, and I'm a simple little ranch girl. Ever since I've met him I've liked him as a bit more than a friend, but it's nothing much. Plus, Link is practically in love with Zelda, and she's a princess. A guy like him would never choose a ranch girl over a princess._

_I got up early that morning to tend to the horses before I had to leave. After work, I changed into my most comfortable jeans and a simple white t-shirt. My hair was back in a ponytail and I wore a pair of flat boots, no heels. Unlike most girls, I hated heels, they just hurt your feet. I'd never been out of the ranch except to deliver milk, so I didn't know if I was dressed appropriately. Link always wore a tunic, but I didn't have anything like that, so what I had on would have to do, unless Link told me something otherwise._

_Breakfast was quiet…Ingo and Dad kept glancing at me and Link back and forth. Ingo glared; Dad just looked curiously, asking me questions with his eyes I didn't quite understand._

"_So," Link said quietly, trying to break the silence. "You like working at the ranch?" He asked this looking at Dad. He knew Ingo's answer; He hated it. He always complained, "Why must I, the Great Ingo, work at this old ranch!" It was a little funny, actually, when he complained, because he knows it won't make a difference, but he does it anyway._

"_I like it," Talon said. "I love working with animals." He looked at me and smiled. "And it's a great way for me to spend time with Malon."_

_I heard a 'Psh' noise coming from Ingo's direction, but I paid no mind to it._

_Dad continued the conversation, but on a new subject. "So, Link, why do you travel so much? A little boy like you has to have a home. And parents? Brothers or sisters?"_

"_Well I sort of have brothers and sisters," Link said. "The Kokiri. I grew up with them. They're pretty much all the family I have, even though I'm technically not related to any of them." He closed his eyes for a few moments. Then he opened them and said, "My mom…she died because of Ganondorf's destruction…She left me at the forest before she died, and I was raised there. I never knew my dad. Truth is, I'm not a Kokiri; I'm a Hylian."_

_The table was silent save for Ingo's incessant chewing. He didn't care at all…What a heartless man…I was ashamed to live with him…At least I was leaving soon…_

_I looked at Link with sad eyes. "I'm so sorry."_

_Link shook his head. "Don't be. I love the Kokiri, and I'm grateful for being able to live with them." He smiled at me. Then he looked back at Dad. "I better be going." He stood up. I stood up after him._

_Dad stood up and walked around the table to reach me. "Malon…" He wrapped his arms around me and held me in an embrace as he talked. "Keep in touch. Don't get hurt, be careful out there."_

_I pushed myself out of his embrace to look up at him. "Dad, it's okay. I'll be with Link."_

_I turned to look at Link, who was smiling at me, but the look in his eyes told me it was a fake smile. I figured it was because of our previous discussion. I smiled back to reassure him and turned to face Dad again. I hugged him once more and he let me go. I looked at Ingo. He was on his way out already. Trying to be a nice person, I called after him. "Good luck at the ranch, Ingo. Bye!" He merely stopped walking, turned his head to look at me, and left._

_Link walked up and put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you'll miss your family, but we have to be going. By now the thing in the moat may have washed away, and I have to find it."_

_I nodded. I yelled one last "Good-bye" to dad before we left the ranch and stepped onto Hyrule Field._

Malon was so excited the whole way to Hyrule Castle. I don't think she's ever traveled this far without her dad.

"Excited?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. It was a way to get conversation going, so I took the chance I had.

"Yes! I get to go on a real adventure for once!"

"Isn't riding horses, milking cows, and chasing chickens adventure enough for you?" I teased. I knew Malon was more adventurous than that, but I love picking on her, she always gave the cutest smile when I did.

She pushed me playfully, causing me to stumble. "Hey! You make me sound like some boring, lazy city girl!"

I smiled back at her. "You're not, I assure you…But I love picking on you."

"Why!" she asked loudly, laughing.

"Cause that smile you get when I do, it's funny."

"Oh? Funny how?"

"I don't know, it just is." Her smile faded and she looked at the ground. "No, I mean, not laugh out loud funny, just…cute funny."

She laughed. "Cute funny?"

"Well, yeah…Your smile is cute."

She laughed again. She blushed, and she tried to look down and hide it. "You always act older than you really are."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if some other boy picked on me, he'd say it was because he felt like it, or because it's fun to see me cry, or something."

I looked at her, my smile gone. "I'd never do that. I'd never make you cry on purpose."

She looked up at me again. "I know."

The rest of the day was mostly silence, just questions from her every now and then, like, "What's it like to fight all those monsters? Do you ever get scared?" and "Don't you ever get lonely?" But the entire time was full of laughter. She was so innocent. Everything she did was for the right intentions. It was good to get away from everything and spend time with an old friend for once.

But Zelda was still on my mind from time to time, during the lulls in our conversation mostly. I really, really wished I knew where she was, or that I could somehow contact her. I wanted to talk to her so much. I kept telling myself I'll see her soon. I didn't know it, but I felt it, sort of. I kept hearing in my head, "You'll see her soon," and I don't know if it was me telling myself that or something else. Either way, I hoped it was right.

"Look!" Malon yelled, pointing ahead. "There's the castle!"

The castle cast a shadow on us as we neared it. The clouds didn't get darker as we approached it this time, as it did before, when I saw Ganondorf. The sun was just setting, so it did get darker, but it wasn't because of Ganondorf's presence, thank God.

We walked to the edge of the moat, to where Zelda had thrown something. I laid on my belly and looked down into the water, putting my face in a little to get a better few. Dang, that water was cold! But whatever it was, it wasn't at that spot anymore.

"Come on." I stood up and walked down the moat in the direction it was flowing. "It should be down here somewhere."

"It flowed down river, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I hope it did. If someone else took it I'm gonna track them down and hurt them."

Malon's face grew serious, even a little scared. I smiled at her. "I'm only kidding."

"Oh." She smiled. "Okay."

We walked down the moat a ways, stopping every now and then so I could look in the water for whatever it was Zelda had thrown. God, I wanted to find it so bad. First of all, I knew it would help me find out what I'm supposed to do next. Second, my face was getting REALLY cold from being shoved under water so much.

"Link," Malon said quietly as I brought my face up for another breath.

"Not now, Malon."

"But, Link…"

"Malon!"

Instantly she backed up and put her hands up to her mouth. I quickly got up and walked over to her.

"Malon, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm just irritated I can't find this stupid thing."

She pointed over toward the end of the moat, where it went through a gate on the left side of the castle and emptied somewhere I didn't know. "There's something on the bottom of the moat against the gate."

I looked under the water as deep as I could, and, sure enough, there was something being pushed onto the bottom of the moat by the water's current.

I stood up and took of my sword and shield.

"What are you doing?" Malon asked, watching me, wide-eyed.

"The extra weight will make it harder for me to maneuver underwater."

She gasped, and, if it was possible, her eyes grew even wider. "You're…going IN there? But Link, you'll freeze! And you're not totally healed yet!"

"But I have to get it. It's the only thing that'll tell me what I need to do next."

"Link, I won't…"

Before I let her finish, I jumped into the moat.

The cold water made me lose my breath instantly. I swam back up to catch my breath and adjust to the water's current before I went too far under.

"LINK!"

I ignored Malon's frantic yelling and dove under. The moat was deeper than I thought it was. It got darker as I got deeper, and on top of that, the sun had gone down already. It was impossible to see. I felt the bottom of the moat, but I was already out of breath. But I couldn't go back up. I was so close…I felt around for the object…My fingers clasped around something…I was near passing out…

"_LIIIINNNK!" I yelled with all the breath I had to try to get Link to hear me from underwater. "Link, come BACK! You'll DROWN!"_

_He didn't hear me. He just kept going deeper and deeper until his green figure disappeared in the dark moat._

_Minutes went by, and still no Link. I saw bubbles come up from deep underwater. That couldn't be good._

_I sat down and started taking my boots off. If he was about to drown, I was going in there to save him. I got my boots of. Yelling at myself for wearing jeans, I ran up to the edge and prepared to jump in…_

…_And out pops Link, gasping for breath. He splashed me a bit, and the surprise of the cold water and of Link popping up like that made me lose balance…and I fell right on top of him into the water._

_What happened next is hard to describe, because I could barely see anything. I flipped around over top of Link. He dove underwater to avoid my frantic kicking, trying to reach the surface. The fast contact with the cold water had left me breathless, and the temperature of it kept my breath from coming back even a little bit. I was never a good swimmer. Eventually my vision was gone and I couldn't see anything. I felt like passing out…_

_Then something warm clasped itself around my wrist and pulled me up to the surface. I felt the person lay me down on the ground. I knew it was Link, I just was too worn out to open my eyes to look at him._

_I heard yelling, probably from Link, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I was too tired. I kept thinking the same things over and over again. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this. Maybe this was all a bad idea and I should head for home as soon as I can stand…But my thoughts about all that were cut off when I fell asleep._

_I don't know how long I lay there, but when I woke up, Link was gone, and it was morning. I sat up quickly. I coughed once, and once I did, I felt as if I could breathe a little easier. Then I stood up. I hated being wet when I had my clothes on. It was horribly uncomfortable. And to make it worse, I was wearing jeans. Wet jeans are always a bad thing to be wearing. But the more important thing was, I was alone. Link was gone._

"_Link!" I called out. "Link, where are you?"_

_No response. Did he leave me? Did he just decide I was too much of a burden and go on his own? I sat down on the ground in defeat. He probably did. It was just the first day and I had messed everything up. Who knew what trouble I'd get us into if I stuck around? I stood back up and turned toward Lon Lon Ranch. I was going home._

_A few minutes into my walk, I heard quick footsteps behind me, as if someone was running. Then they yelled to me._

"_Hey! Where do you think you're going? We've barely gotten anywhere yet and you're giving up?"_

_I smiled and turned around. "Link! Where were you?"_

"_At the market," he said, holding up a brown bag. "I got you a new outfit," he said, looking me over. "I think you'll need it."_

"_Yeah, I do, I hate wet clothes."_

_He laughed. "I'll have to keep that in mind," he said with an evil smirk._

"_Oh, God, I'm keeping a close eye on you from now on."_

_He laughed again. I loved to hear him laugh. "What else did you get?"_

"_Well," he said, digging through the pack. "I got a few potions, red for both of us, green for me…Umm…I got two fairies at a fairy fountain…"_

"_Wait, where is there a fairy fountain in the market?"_

"_There isn't, really, but I went to see the great fairy again," he groaned. "She is so freakin' scary. Anyway, she gave me two fairies, and that's all I got."_

"_Okay, sounds good to me. Now gimme my clothes, I REALLY have to change!"_

_Link handed me my new set of clothes. I examined them. There was a pair sand-colored cloth shorts and a light blue tank top. _

"And these are fine for traveling?"

"_Yeah, unless you want a tunic, too."_

_I shook my head. "No, thanks. S'cuse me." I walked behind the big rock Link had yet to blow up. Before changing, I peeked out from behind it. "Look back here and I'm going to hurt you."_

_Link's eye grew wide. "Oh, no! I don't plan to!" He turned away and covered his eyes. "Tell me when you're done!"_

_I went back behind the rock and changed…and it was harder than I thought it would be. The wet jeans clung to my legs and wouldn't come off. It took a good 5 minutes just to get them off with as little pain as possible, and it also took a little bit of yelling at Link to get him to stop being impatient. But after about 10 minutes, I got into the dry clothes, and it felt SO good!_

"_Okay, I'm done," I said, walking up to Link with my wet clothes. "Where should I put these?"_

_He held out an empty sack. "In here. You can carry it."_

_I put my clothes in the pack, closed it, and hung it over my shoulder. "That seems fair. So, what now?"_

"_We need to go to the Temple of Time," Link said, heading back toward the market._

_I ran to catch up with him. "How do you know?"_

"_Well, the item I got from the moat…It was this…" He held his hand out. In it was a beautiful blue ocarina._

"_What is so important about that?"_

"_Everything. It's the Ocarina of Time. Whoever has it can open the Door of Time. If someone evil had this…like Ganondorf…well, let's just say that would be REALLY bad."_

"_So how do you know we need to go to the Temple of Time?"_

"_Well, when I picked up the ocarina, I saw Zelda…it was sort of a dream. She taught me the song I'll need to play in front of the altar."_

"_Altar?"_

"_I'm not sure, either, but we'll find out soon."_

_We walked into the market. It was full of people, even at this early hour. According to a clock on a wall, it was about 7:00 AM._

_We ascended the steps to the temple. I had never been so close to the temple before, and it looked a lot bigger than I thought it was. We walked inside._

_The first step I took off of the carpet at the entrance echoed throughout the whole temple. The ceiling was so high I couldn't see it. The stone walls had colorful windows on each side. The floors were black and white, like a chess board. Every step I took echoed throughout the temple, even the steps on the red carpet that ran through the middle of the floor._

_We approached a tall black altar. Behind it were steps leading to a wall…steps to a wall, why would you need that? At the top of that wall, a few inches below the ceiling, was a triforce mark. It was gray, and barely noticeable._

_I walked around the temple, taking in its beauty. Link stayed at the altar, putting three stones set in gold on the altar. Soon my ears were filled with an ocarina tune echoing through the temple. I turned toward the altar and saw Link playing his ocarina. The song sounded like a sort of hymn, without the chorus._

_The song stopped, and a moment of silence hung in the air. Then the sound of stone moving on stone hit my ears, and I turned. The stone wall behind the altar was opening, and the triforce above it glowed gold. A minute later, the door was completely open. Link started walking in._

"_Wait! Link!" My voice echoed throughout the temple. I ran to catch up with him. "What's in there?"_

_Navi, Link's fairy, flew out from under his hat. "Link, is that…!" She flew ahead of us, toward…a sword. It was a sword in a pedestal of stone. The pedestal had a triforce on it. "…It's that legendary blade…" Navi mused. "The Master Sword!"_

_Link walked up to the sword and put his hands on the hilt. _

I was standing next to him. "Link, what's gonna happen when you take that out of the pedestal?"

_Link sighed. "I don't know." He looked at me with a grin. "But there's only one way to find out."_

_He went to pull it. I put my hand on his. He looked up at me, confused. "What?"_

"_Are things going to get worse from here? What if I mess up again?" I felt stupid for asking, childish, maybe…well technically I was a child, but in front of Link…I felt older, mostly because he acted so mature._

_He grinned. "Malon, this is just the beginning." With that he pulled the sword from its resting place with a jolt. I didn't take my hand off his. We were surrounded by blue light. Then I lost sight of everything…_

_I guess this is where our journey really begins…

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That's all for chapter one! I'll be back soon with more! And thanks for reading! Byes!


	2. Promises

_Yay, chapter 2! Let's just get to the story, shall we?

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**Chapter 2 – Promises**

_It was like a dream. I was in an endless blue room, brimming with both light and dark. Below my feet was a triforce, glowing gold, as always. Around me were six round platforms…A yellow one in front of me, and a green one, a blue one, a red one, a purple one, and an orange one around me, forming a circle._

_A ring of light appeared on the yellow platform in front of me, and a large man appeared inside of it. He wore a long robe, orange, red, and yellow in color. He was bald, save for the hair on the back of his head and the beard. All his hair was white._

"_I am, Rauru, one of the ancient sages," he said._

_My eyes were glued on the man. All this…it couldn't be real…Where was I? What was going on? I didn't remember Link until Rauru addressed him. To my right, there he was, and as soon as I saw him I nearly fainted. He was no longer the young boy I had known for so long. He was a grown man, tall and well-built. But I was still only a few inches shorter than him. I looked down at myself, and, once again, I was speechless. I was also grown. Somehow, I still wore the outfit Link had bought for me after the moat incident. My hair went down to my waist. I kept telling myself I was dreaming…_

_Once again we were engulfed in blue light, and once again, my vision went black…_

_I opened my eyes to find that Link and I were once again in the Temple of Time, next to the pedestal the sword was once in. I was lying on the ground. I looked at Link. He was still grown up, and I could only assume that I was, too. Was that a dream? What I still dreaming?_

_Link looked down at me and smiled. "No, you're not dreaming. It's me, Link, and that's you, Malon." He looked me over a few times. "Welcome to the future."_

_My head was spinning. "Future?"_

"_Yep," he said quietly. "I'm the Hero of Time. I'll be traveling through time to save Hyrule, and unless you think it's too much for you, you'll be coming with me."_

_I shook my head and stood up. "No way…you're joking…"_

"_Well, if I'm joking, I suppose your body is joking with you, too? Cause it doesn't look like you're ten years old anymore."_

_I looked down at myself again. He was right. This body was real, and so was the man who now stood in front of me._

"_How did this happen?"_

"_Weren't you listening to Rauru?" I shook my head. He sighed. "I'm the Hero of Time, as I told you. But when I pulled the Master Sword, I was too young. So my spirit was sealed in the Chamber of Sages for seven years, and since you were holding my hand when I pulled it, I guess you were there with me."_

_I didn't know if it was possible for someone's head to spin so fast with question that it'd fly off, but I felt like mine would do just that. "Seven years? Seven years have really passed?"_

_Link nodded. "And without me here to defend Hyrule, Ganondorf took over. He rules now."_

"_What about the ranch! What happened there!"_

_Link looked down at the ground solemnly. "I…I don't know, Malon…"_

_I turned and headed for the exit. I had to make sure the ranch was okay. Who knows what could have happened for seven years with me just…gone?_

_Link ran after me and put a hand on my shoulder. I stopped and turned to look at him. He was looking at me with both confusion and sympathy._

"_Going to the ranch?"_

_I nodded, not smiling._

_He put his hand down. "Thought so…" He trailed off, looking at the floor._

_I bent down and looked at his face. "What is it?" I lifted his head with my hand at his chin._

_He just looked at me. He took my hand and held it in front of him. He put his other hand on top of mine. My hand was between his, between the leather of his gloves. They still felt warm, though. "Don't be surprised by what you see when we get there," he said quietly. "I've been gone, unable to save Hyrule for seven years. You've been gone, unable to visit your father or the ranch or help him for seven years. Some things…some things may have changed…"_

"_I know," I said. "I know. But I have to go check on my dad, and Ingo. And the horses, I have to see the horses."_

_A moment of silence hung between us as we just stared at each other. He was so beautiful. The past seven years had done him a lot of good, even though he was locked up in a sprit world for all that time._

_I took my hand out from between his. "Let's go." I turned to leave. He followed diligently, like a well-trained dog following its owner._

The walk back to Lon Lon Ranch seemed a lot longer than the walk from it. That was probably because of the fact that on the trip to Hyrule Castle, we were both laughing and talking. Now, there was nothing but silence between us the whole way there. Malon walked as fast as her newly elongated legs would carry her, but she didn't run so she wouldn't get too tired. I kept looking over at her. She was definitely not the little, innocent farm girl she used to be. She had grown up to be a fine, independent young woman. She was actually very beautiful now. Her hair, down to her waist, flowed behind her as she walked. Whenever the wind blew, it took her hair with it in that direction.

Zelda was on my mind, too, for the whole walk there. I wondered what she looked like now that these seven years had passed. Hopefully she didn't think I abandoned her and all of Hyrule. I wished I could somehow contact her and explain everything to her. And I wanted her to tell me what had been going on while I was gone.

"The ranch!"

Malon broke into a run as we got close enough to Lon Lon Ranch to see the roofs of the buildings. But I only saw one roof now, and that was the one on the right, Malon's house. The one that used to be across from it, on the left, was gone. What happened to the stables?

I ran after her, as fast as I could. She was already in the ranch and out of sight, so I ran as hard as I could. But she had stopped right when we got inside, so I almost ran into her. I stopped next to her and kneeled down to catch my breath. "Malon…why'd you…?" I trailed off as I stood up and looked at what the ranch was now.

The stables were gone, just as I had thought. Now all was left there was a lot of dirt. There weren't even remains, like wood or straw. Beyond there was the pasture the horses used to live in. But now, the fence was gone, as well as the horses. Malon just stared. I saw a tear run down her cheek. I knew that wouldn't be the last. I put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her.

She put her other hand on my hand. "Link…it's gone," she said weakly. "Everything's gone…" She looked up at me, wide-eyed. "What happened!" Suddenly she seemed angry. "WHAT HAPPENED!" she yelled so loudly anyone in the ranch or just outside would have heard her.

"Malon?"

The voice was weak. It sounded like an old, weak man. "Malon, is that you?"

Malon looked around, but saw nothing. "Who…" She broke off when she saw her father standing in the doorway to her home. But he was no longer the same man he used to be. He wore a baggy shirt that had stains in multiple places and gray sweatpants. He had no shoes on, just socks. His hair was brown, but there was noticeable grey hair there as well.

Malon ran up to him and hugged him. She held him at arms' length. "Daddy, what happened? Where are the horses? And Ingo? And the stables? Daddy, what happened to you!"

Talon coughed…And he didn't stop.

"Malon," I walked up to them. "He doesn't look good. Let's go inside and get him on a chair."

Malon nodded, not saying a word. She took Talon's hands in her own and led him into the kitchen. Everything here looked the same…

Malon sat him down on a chair at the dining table. Malon and I also sat down.

"Malon," Talon said quietly and weakly. "The ranch…it's gone. There is no more ranch."

"What do you mean!" Malon yelled almost a little too loudly. "What happened?"

"When you two left, and never came back, Ingo and I were left to care for the ranch on our own. Everything was going great, aside from Ingo's complaining, but that was always there. But then I started becoming too weak to work and Ingo had to take over. He was basically in charge. But he couldn't make any drastic changes, because the ranch still legally belonged to me." He paused a few moments as he coughed. Malon put a protective arm around his shoulder. "I saw a doctor, and she told me that I had a fatal illness that would kill me within six years unless I found the cure. But the cure isn't in Hyrule, it's in another territory where there are no people, only monsters. So I couldn't go get it, and had no one to send. Still, I'm lucky I'm still around, after these seven years. Then Ingo found out that I was sick. He brought in a law enforcement group and they made me sign the ranch over to someone else because I would pass away in a short time. I signed the ranch over to you, Malon, but they told me that if you didn't return within three years, the ranch would go to the second option, Ingo…And when you didn't return, Ingo took complete control."

Malon hung her head. "Daddy, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to leave you for all that time…I would have come back, but…"

"Shhh," Talon said quietly. "Malon, it's not your fault…"

"It's mine," I said in my normal tone of voice, which was louder than Talon had been talking, so it took them by surprise. "If I hadn't let Malon come with me, she wouldn't have been stuck with me in that chamber for seven years…" Talon looked at me with a confused look. I shook my head. "It's complicated and a little hard to understand. But all that matters is, Malon had no control over the fact that she couldn't come back for so long. Otherwise, we would have come back from time to time."

Talon smiled weakly. He looked at Malon. "Malon, I was afraid I wouldn't get to see you again before I died…And now that I have, dying doesn't seem as horrible as it used to…"

"Daddy!"

"No, I'm not saying I want to die, but…it's seems a bit more tolerable. I mean, look at me." He looked down at himself and then back up to Malon. "I'm old, sick, and unable to do anything anymore. All this coughing causes huge pains in my throat. I get frequent migraines and stomachaches. If I died, this pain would go away."

Malon started crying loudly and uncontrollably. Talon put his arms around her. "Malon, don't cry." He looked her over. "My, my, you've grown to be a find young woman!" Apparently he was trying to lighten the mood a bit. Good idea.

Malon looked up and smiled a little.

I don't know why, but Malon suddenly stopped crying. She looked at me with a serious face, then looked back at her father. She stood up. "Where did you say the cure was?"

Talon's face grew scared. "Malon, you're not thinking…"

"I've made my decision…I'm going to find the cure."

The room was silent for a few moments, so I took the chance to speak up. "Talon…where is this cure? And what does it look like?"

Talon seemed hesitant to answer, as if he thought not answering would make Malon stay. I knew her too well the think that. When she made up her mind, she never backed down. I both hated and liked that about her. "It is a place that is said to have no human inhabitants…A place of evil, full of monsters. They say it's always dark there. The entrance is somewhere is the river in Gerudo valley, or so I've been told. The cure is in the form of a flower. My doctor told me that its petals were the real key." He looked to Malon. "Malon, please. Don't risk your life for me. You know I would rather die now than you to have to die for me."

"I know," Malon said. "And I would rather die than watch you die."

So much talk of death…I was really getting sick of it. "Talon," I said, walking next to Malon. "Don't worry. I'll go with her. As long as I live, I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt. I promise."

I looked down at Malon. She looked up at me with confusion. She knew as well as I did that I couldn't do as I had said…I had to save Hyrule. But this conversation was too dreary…If it still had yet to be finished, I wanted to finish it later. And I could tell by the way Malon looked at me that she felt the same way.

Talon sighed. Apparently he had given up. I think he trusted me. He walked up and held Malon in a tight hug. "I love you, Malon, know that."

Malon hugged him back. "I love you, too, Dad," she said quietly. "And I'll be back with cure. I'm not coming back without it. I promise."

Talon nodded, then looked at me. "I trust you, Link. I trust you'll keep your promise, and I trust you'll being her home safely."

I nodded. "I will."

He looked us over once more, then he whispered, "I'll be here when you return."

We nodded and left.

Malon decided that once we got out of the ranch, it was her perfect chance to speak her mind…loudly, and angrily.

"LINK!" she yelled. "You can't keep that promise! You have to stay here and save Hyrule!"

"I know."

"So you can't come with me!"

"I know."

"And I have to go alone!"

"I know."

She just stared at me. She was surprised I was letting her go so easily. "Link…" she said quietly. "Since when do you just met me go so easily?"

"Since I learned that you're like a man in the respect that when you make up your mind, you stick to it."

I smiled. "Is that a good thing?"

I thought for a moment. "Hmm..yes and no."

She nodded. "Okay."

"Anyway," I said, pulling out an empty pouch I had with me. I took out my Kokiri sword, which was more like a short dagger now, a few red potions, my fairy ocarina, and one of our fairies and put them in there. "This is for you. You'll need it."

She took the pouch. "Thank you."

We stood there, silent, for a few moments, looking each other over, as if we would never see each other again. Actually, that might actually happen…But I wiped that thought from my mind. I lifted my hat off of my head. "Navi, come out."

Navi flew out of my hat and yawned. "What? What is it, Link?"

"Malon has to go find something for her dad. I can't go with her, I have to stay here and protect Hyrule. I want you to go with her."

Navi gasped. "Link! You need me!"

"But Malon needs you more," I said. "I've been fighting for a long time. Malon's never fought a battle before."

"Actually," Malon chimed in, "I do have experience with a bow and arrow. My dad and I used to practice together all the time."

I looked back at Malon. "Okay, then…" I dug in my bag and pulled out my fairy bow and the arrows. "Take this. I have a longshot, I'll manage."

I looked at Navi. "Teach her Saria's song. That way, if she needs me, she can contact Saria, and Saria will contact me. Okay?" Navi nodded.

I handed Malon the bow and arrows. Malon took it carefully and, gingerly, she put it in her bag. "Thank you, Link." She stood on her tip-toes and kissed me on the cheek. It was quick and innocent, and meant nothing but "thank you", but it still took me by surprise.

"Well," I said. "You two better head out. And I should, too. Bye!" I turned to head off, but turned back to Malon. I put my hands on her shoulders. "And I will keep that promise I made to your dad. No matter what, I'll never let someone hurt you. I promise." I returned the kiss on the cheek. Then I turned and dashed off.

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_Well, that's all! Buh byes! (Please review!)_


	3. Malon: The Journey Begins

_I just thought of something…Link isn't supposed to have the Fairy Bow or Longshot yet, since he didn't even visit any temples yet…But he has them, cause I made him have them. Some of you may have noticed that, and for those of you who didn't, oh well. Anyway, since the storyline is changing anyway, I'll make it so he has them. No harm done, right?_

_Okay…During Link's and Malon's separation, the chapters will be named by whose point of view it is. If it's Malon's POV, then the chapter is named Malon. If the title has no name in it, then it's most likely in third-person. NO MORE ITALICS, BOLD, and OTHER annoying text changes to deal with! WOOT! Heh, I'm okay. I may add more to the title than the name to hint to what's going on or something,(like this chapter), but, more or less, their names will still be a part of the chapter…Well, enjoy! I hope you like it!

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**Chapter 3 – Malon: The Journey Begins**

I watched Link run off. As soon as he had kissed me, I had felt my cheeks heat up instantly. Even though he was looking away, I did feel a little nervous, and excited at the same time.

"Hey!" a little voice yelled at me. Then I remembered that Navi was with me now, and I looked up to see her floating above my head. "We have to get going if you hope to save your father!"

I nodded, my smile gone at the mention of the serious situation. "Yeah, let's go."

"Where are we supposed to go?"

"My dad said the entrance is in the river in Gerudo Valley." _Which is bad,_ I thought to myself. I couldn't swim…I thought I had made that evident at the moat incident, but apparently not. I stared at the ground.

"Malon?"

I raised my head. "The only problem is…I can't swim."

Navi sighed. "Well, if that's the worst of our problems, then we're pretty darn lucky."

"That's right," I said. "You and Link have been on some pretty dangerous adventures, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Navi said. "And that was just the beginning. We still…or, rather…He still has five sages to save. It's not going to be easy, and without me to help him, it'll probably be a bit harder."

"You should go with him, then," I said. "All I'm doing is going to get a flower and leave."

"Yeah, but there are a few others thing you have to do in order to get even that done. You have to swim in a river with no swimming experience. You have to find the entrance in the river. You have to make it through whatever is waiting for you there. You have to find the flower. Then you have to do it all over again when you leave. I think you need me more."

I couldn't argue with that. And I could barely comprehend it, either. I had to do so much, and it was only my first adventure. But then again, Link didn't have it so good either. He had a first adventure…and he got better at the adventuring thing. Maybe I would improve, too…I could only hope…

"Gerudo Valley…where is that?" I asked Navi. I'd only been to Kakariko Village, Hyrule Castle, and, of course, the ranch. Everything else was new to me.

"Out by Lake Hylia. Seeing as you can't swim, we can't take the short way. So we'll have to walk."

I had no idea what the short way was, so I ignored the mention of it. At first I thought of taking a horse, but then I remembered the ranch's poor condition…There weren't any horses left. So Navi was right…I did have to walk.

"You lead the way," I said, starting to walk.

The walk was long and it took a few days. On the first stay, I had stopped at Kakariko Village for a few minutes to buy a pair of knee-high boots. They were sort of loose-fitting. I got them so I would have a place to put the so-called sword Link had given me. Wearing it on my back in the hilt could cost me. Someone who was suspicious of me could quickly kill me so I couldn't do whatever bad thing they accused me of trying to do. Anyway…The closer we got to the valley, the hotter it got. Eventually we were in a climate of what felt like 90 degrees and hotter. Despite my short shorts and tank top, I was really hot anyway. And my shins were hot, too, because of the boots. Navi didn't act hot, though.

"Aren't you hot?" I asked her, panting. We were now passing a tree, headed toward a three-way intersection. A tall cliff overlooked us to the right. It was day three of our travels.

Navi shook her head…Well that's what it looked like. She was so small it was hard to tell. "Fairies can adapt to any temperature. I didn't even notice it was getting hotter until you mentioned it and I looked over." She looked at me. I knew it was noticeable that I was extremely uncomfortable and hot. My hair, being let down due to my lack of a hair tie, was all frizzy and damp with sweat. The front of my shirt was wet as well, and my face was dripping. I didn't feel like saying anything…I decided to save the energy I had.

We came up to the three-way intersection. There was a path behind us, a path straight in front of us, and a path to the right, leading to a lot of dry, red hills. Great…I bet it was even hotter up there.

"This is the way. Turn right," Navi said, flying far ahead of me to check for anyone who might not want me there. I started walking up the hills. My legs felt as if they were about to give out. I wanted to just fall down and lay there forever, even though the ground was probably hot, the sun beating down on it nonstop all day. Navi flew back to me quickly. I envied her supply of energy…she wasn't that tired at all. I, on the other hand…well, that was another story. "There's no one there," she said. "Only a carpenter and his tent on the other side of the bridge…which is broken."

I had gotten my hopes up that the carpenter would have food and be generous enough to give me some. And maybe he'd even let me rest in the tent. But when Navi told me the bridge was broken, I realized I couldn't even get to the other side, let alone talk to the man…or woman…whatever it was.

I walked across a wooden plank, carefully, so I wouldn't fall in. Navi stayed a foot or two ahead of me, steering me in the right direction. Looking down below the plank, I saw that there was a pool of water below it. I wanted to jump in, to cool of, but I didn't know how deep it was, and I didn't want to risk drowning myself before the actual adventure started because I was hot.

Then the sun started going down. Thank GOD! When we reached the edge of the cliff on the right side of the broken bridge, the sun was completely over the cliff, so I couldn't see it anymore.

I stepped as close the edge of the cliff as I could without falling. It was really, really, high. I was fine with heights, they didn't bother me. What made me nervous was seeing the fast-flowing river at the bottom, flowing to the left. I assumed that was the direction of Lake Hylia.

"This will be really hard," Navi said. "Seeing as you can't swim. Somehow, you gotta get down there and dive underwater to find some type of hole or something. You'll have to dive through that. Plus, you'll have to resist the pull of the current, or you'll be pulled to Lake Hylia. We'll have to walk all the way back, and that would take another day. Another day would be wasted." She took her gaze from the river to me. "No pressure," she joked.

I made a loud _'Psh'_ noise. "Yeah, no pressure at all…" I really didn't want to do this. I REALLY, REALLY did not want to do this…But I had to. If I didn't, my dad would probably die within a few days. I took a deep breath. I took my terrified stare from the river and looked at Navi. "How am I supposed to get down there?"

"Well, Link would always dive…"

I shook my head vigorously. "Oh, NO WAY! I am NOT diving! I'll kill myself as soon as I hit the water!"

"True," Navi said quietly. "But then how would you get down there?"

That was good question. How WOULD I get down there?

Then I heard a noise. It was like a little toy recorder and little kid would have. It was high, constant, and vibrating. Then I saw a small round shadow appear in front of me and then go over and behind me. I turned around and watched it. It grew bigger. I looked up and saw a girl about my height standing on a flying…plant! I ignored the plant for a few moments and concentrated on the girl. She had vibrant orange hair that was chin-length. It was pulled back behind both of her ears. Her lips were long and white-ish. Her eyes were big a golden. She wore a pair of white, poofy pants, like a genie, and a white vest-like top that failed to cover her belly.

The plant landed on the ground and she stepped off of it. She walked over to me. She laughed at my terrified face, which, evidently, had not worn off from seeing the river.

"Something wrong? You lost?" she asked.

"Umm…" I said, unsure of what to say. Should I tell her of my business here? What if this place was some kind of secret or something? But what if she could help me? After all, she lived here. "You're…you're a Gerudo, right?"

She nodded, laughing. "Yes. Yes I am. And you are?"

"I'm from Lon Lon Ranch," I said. "My name is Malon."

"Lon Lon Ranch?" the girl asked loudly, almost surprised. "That place ceased being a ranch three years ago. I used to get my milk from them."

"Well…I guess I still call it a ranch because it's my home, and…I've lived there all my life."

"Ah," the girl said quietly. "I see. Did you walk here?"

I nodded.

"Come with me, then. You looked exhausted."

"I am! And I'm hungry!" I said a little too eagerly.

She smiled at me again. She pointed across the bridge to the tent. "See that there? That's the carpenter's tent. Normally you could get over there no problem, but the bridge broke."

"Why don't they fix it? After all, they are carpenters."

"They can't. The Gerudos have them locked up in their fortress. I heard they tried to become thieves, and because they're men, they got locked up. Gerudos don't trust men, except for the Gerudo King."

"Yeah, I heard that a man being born in the Gerudo race is rare…like, a thousand years between each birth of a man?" (_A/N: Who rules the Gerudos when there's no king? After all, one king won't live for 1000 years until the next one is born. Just a thought..._)

She nodded. "Yeah. Our King now is Ganondorf." She winced.

"You don't like him?"

"How could I! He's evil. He's taken over Hyrule and has let the world fall apart. And he enjoys it! With his extra job of ruling Hyrule, he's forgotten about us. Nabooru is ruling in his place."

I assumed that Nabooru was that sort of "Queen" of the Gerudos.

She went on. "And he made this stupid law. Gerudos aren't to leave to valley. I want nothing more than to go out and see the rest of Hyrule for myself, but I can't. I'm stuck here, standing down on that stupid ledge all day, taking care of that stupid cow that lives down there."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Ganondorf has destroyed my home, too."

"I'm not surprised," she said irritably. "So," she said, trying to lighten up the conversation. "What are you here for, anyway?"

I debated in my mind whether to tell her the truth or not. I looked up at Navi, who had, surprisingly, stayed quiet throughout the whole conversation. Link had told me that she "Never shuts up". Navi didn't say anything or do anything to help me make this decision. What a great time for her to clam up…

I looked back at the Gerudo girl. "Umm…" _What harm could come from telling her?_ I concluded in my head. "Well, my father is sick, and I'm supposed to go to some place outside of Hyrule to get the cure."

Her eyes grew wide. "Is the entrance to the place you're looking for in the river!"

I nodded. "Yeah, have you been there!" Maybe someone who knew their way around could show me around, help me get the flower in a few minutes, and I could be out and on the way home. The journey was starting to lighten up.

A look of terror crossed her face. "Ooooh no, oh no!"

I looked at her, confused. "Oh…why not? You're so familiar with it…"

"I'm familiar with the entrance and the fact that it's there. But the inside…It's too dangerous to go in there!"

"How would you know?"

She looked around for a moment, as if she was making sure someone wasn't watching. Then she looked back at me. In a low tone, she said, "All of the Gerudo know of it, they just don't tell anyone because they don't want anyone to try to prove their bravery by going in there. They say monsters none of us can imagine live there. The last time someone went in there to look for the cure to a disease, they never came out. That was over 100 years ago, and no one since then has dared to go in." She put her hands on my shoulders. "I beg of you. Don't go in there. Even the strongest and bravest warriors never made it out." She looked me over. "No offense, but you don't look like much of a warrior."

I took her hands off my shoulders and put them by her side again. "I know I'm not a warrior," I said. "But I'm going to find the cure."

She just stared at me, horrified.

"Actually, you don't even know if something bad happened to them. Maybe they found something so great, they never came back because they loved it so much." She gave me a look that said, "You've GOT to be kidding me". As much as I tried to believe what I had just said, I couldn't. I had every doubt in my mind that the legends were somewhat true…And it scared the hell out of me.

"Anyway," I said. "I'm not alone."

She looked at Navi. "No offense to either of you, but I don't think they fairy is going to help you much."

"Hey!"

I put Navi in my bag and shut it. I had put straps on it on the walk here, so I put the straps over my shoulders and let it hang on my back. Somehow, she got out, but she had gotten the picture and stopped talking.

"No, I don't have just Navi," I said. "I have the Hero of Time on my side, too."

"…Who?"

I held my hands up to tell her it wasn't worth explaining. "Don't worry about it. Can you just please tell me where the entrance is?"

A long period of silence followed my question. She was extremely hesitant to answer. Even thought she didn't know me, she didn't want to be responsible for the death of an innocent little farm girl. Or, I assumed that that's what she thought of me. She walked me to the cliff. "All the way on the bottom, on the opposite wall, do you see a little ledge carved into the wall?"

I nodded.

"You need to get to that ledge first…Via cucco…"

"What!"

She walked over to a rock and went behind it. I heard a loud yell from a cucco, and she came back with one in her hands. "Hold this above your head and jump. The cucco knows where it's supposed to take people, so it'll guide the fall so you land on the ledge. When you get there, throw it in the water. It'll come back up here. I'm now sure how, but it does. Once that is done, push the crate over the ledge. The crate will get stuck on a rock coming out from below the river. Where it stops, swim over and dive below it. The rock will protect you from going too far because of the current. There is a hole on the ground there, go in it. That's as far as I can take you. You're on your own from there."

She handed me the cucco. It relaxed when I took it. I had a way with cuccos, since I had worked with them all my life. "Alright. Thanks."

I turned to leave, but she stopped me. "Be careful," she said quietly.

I nodded. "Don't worry. I will."

I walked to the edge of the cliff and jumped, the cucco over my head. I was really scared at first. I was afraid I'd either squeeze the cucco to death, trying to hold on for dear life, or that I would let go for fear of squishing the cucco. But it seemed to be able to take a lot of pressure on its fragile little body. It didn't even notice it was carrying a different person, so it was a smooth ride down. I landed lightly on my feet and let the cucco go. Just as the girl had said, it flew right back up. I watched it go back up, and I saw the Gerudo girl watching me on top of the cliff. She waved to me. I waved back. Then I turned to see the crate.

It didn't take me too long to push the crate over the ledge. I was a strong girl. I had worked all my life. I'd built those muscles. I watched it float down the river, then it stopped with a thud against a rock. That was my cue to get in and find the stupid hole.

I took a deep breath. I bent my knees to jump in again.

"MALON, WAIT!" Navi flew in front of me, surprising me.

Once again, I fell into the water by surprise. I flipped once and came back up and found I could breathe. I tried to open my eyes, but my vision was blurred by the water. Then I felt a thud on my shoulder. I looked over and saw the crate. I wasn't moving anymore, but the water was.

Navi flew above me. "Oh, Malon, I'm so sorry!"

I took a deep breath. "It's okay, at least that's over with." I looked down. The water was perfectly clear, and I could see the red rock floor at the bottom. But there was one black spot. That had to be the hole.

"Here I go…" I looked up at Navi. "Get in my bag. There's no way you'll ever survive this current alone."

She did as she was told. Before I thought about it too much and scared myself, I dove under, head first.

The current pushed me hard against the rock. Luckily, the rock was rough, so I used some of its jagged edges to pull myself down. I could see the hole. I put my hands out, and I was able to grad the edges. I took a moment to ready myself, then I pulled myself in.

Instantly I started falling, as if I had jumped off of a cliff. And I could breathe again. I felt my hair and clothes. They were dry. All around me were stars and the black sky. It looked as if it was endless. It could have been. As long as I was here, I didn't know anything anymore.

I felt bumps inside my bag. Clearly, Navi was trying to get out. I took the bag off my back and opened it. Navi flew out, holding the little brown ocarina. It was glowing.

"Hey! Malon!" Navi yelled. "Link's calling! Play Saria's Song!"

As incapable to play as I thought I was, I managed to remember and play the song. Instantly the ocarina stopped glowing.

"Malon? Malon, are you there? It's me, Link!" I heard it in my mind. But I didn't let that little detail stop me from yelling my response.

"LINK! Where are you? Are you okay? What's going on!"

"Malon, I have some really bad news. I found Zelda and Impa."

"The ones who ran away on that horse seven years ago?" Link had told me about that scene.

"Yeah," he said.

"But what's so bad about that?"

"Malon, the…"

Everything grew silent. The last thing I felt was a sharp, stinging pain in my shoulder, then everything went black.

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_So how'd you like it? Oh, I didn't give the Gerudo girl a name cause I couldn't think of one…if anyone has any ideas, please tell me, and thanks! And about the thing with the plant in Gerudo Valley…you know, the one on the ledge near the river? I actually have no idea where that plant goes, so sorry if it doesn't really go to the top cliff. Heh...Please review! Hopefully I'll update soon! Byes!_


	4. Link: Loss

_Sorry for the cliffy! I like making people wait…But, don't worry, the next chapter is here!

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**Chapter 4 – Link: Loss**

I had turned away as fast as I could after I had kissed Malon. It was simply a good-bye kiss, and I knew she wanted it.

Yes, I had found out that Malon was crushing on me back when she first joined me on my mission. She always stared at me, and looked at me oddly. And she giggled whenever I complimented her. I may not have known how many girls act when they have a crush, but I wasn't stupid. I could tell.

I heard mumbling from behind me. Malon and Navi were talking. I didn't turn back, for fear of getting caught in Malon's stare again. She didn't exactly scare me, but I did feel a little uncomfortable whenever she watched me.

My first stop was Kokiri Forest. I wanted to make sure my home and the Kokiri were okay. After all, they were my family.

And, at the same time, I was looking for Zelda. I had to make sure she was safe. I hadn't seen her in so long. A lot had changed since I was gone, and Zelda could have changed, too.

The trip was unusually quiet since Navi was gone. I was so used to her non-stop talking, and now that is was gone, I felt a little lonely. But then again, without her to stop me to talk, the trip took a lot less time than it usually did. Usually, the trip from Hyrule Castle to the forest took about two days. This time, it only took one. Navi used to stop me a lot.

I walked through the first log that led to the short bridge to Kokiri Forest. It was unusually quiet. I walked slowly, so as not to surprise anyone.

As I entered Kokiri Forest, I was greeted by quick pain around my knee. I looked down to see a cut. I looked up. A giant plant came biting at me. I managed to jump back before it hit me again. I hit it with my longshot and then killed it with my sword.

This was not what I had expected my home to be like. I ran into every home. Everyone was gone. I started to become angry. Where was everyone! What had happened here! Then I remembered that last place I had to look…The Lost Woods.

I had gotten lost there a few times before, trying to meet Saria. Every time I got lost I ended up in Kokiri Forest again, but it got annoying to have to start over each time I went the wrong way.

I entered the woods. There was no longer music playing. It was silent.

It took me about a dozen tries, but I made it to the Sacred Meadow. I quickly killed the Wolfos that got in my way, and then walked into the maze. I had already memorized the path I was supposed to take; I had gone through this maze countless times, playing with Saria.

But as soon as I turned, a giant, brown, pig-like monster was charging at me, spear held out. I jumped back just as it passed. It didn't turn to follow me, so I assumed that it couldn't. Perfect. So I'd just wait for it to pass and I'd shoot it with my longshot. I didn't have my bow anymore; Malon did, so I couldn't shoot it from too far away.

I did just as I had planned. And, as it turned out, that one wasn't the only one in the maze. I had to kill a few more, and even a giant one with a hammer. But I made it through with few injuries, and I was there.

I walked over to the tree stump Saria used to sit on and play her ocarina. I missed her…I hoped she was okay…

I heard movement to my left. I looked over and saw a boy, who looked about my age. He wore a blue outfit, a one-piece suit that went over his arms, legs, torso, and feet. A worn white cloth with a red eye-like pattern went over his front, and it rose up to cover his mouth. His head was wrapped in tape, and only some of his blonde hair was visible. I could only see one eye. The other was covered by his hair. It was red.

Then I remembered…I had seen him in the Temple of Time, right after pulling the Master Sword. Malon had gone ahead, so she didn't know of him. His name was Sheik…he was of the Sheikah tribe.

_(A/N: Prepare for butchered wording! I don't remember what exactly was said here, sorry!)_

Sheik took some time to remind me of the sage that lived in the temple above my head. He also said some more of his poetry, too. Seriously, his strong poetic sense made me think twice about his gender. But then again, that would be saying men couldn't be poets, and that wasn't true…I think...

The talking went on for a few minutes. Just as he got out his harp to teach me a song, he stopped moving. I didn't know why, I didn't know how, but I ran over to catch him before he fell face-first on the ground. Then I saw it. An arrow was protruding out from his back, right in the center…right through the heart.

"SHEIK!" I yelled, as if it would wake him up.

I heard rustling in the trees above, and I looked up. I saw a shadow moving, then it disappeared.

Deciding that I would deal with that little mystery later, I knelt down to Sheik. He was breathing, bit it was extremely shallow.

"L…Link…" he said weakly. "You need…to know…something…"

I held picked him up to a sitting position. "What is it?"

He took a few moments to muster up the strength to speak. His minutes were limited. "I'm not who you think I am."

I just stared at him, confused.

Slowly and weakly, he raised his arms and crossed them. A Triforce symbol appeared on his hand. Instantly a bright light shone around him, and I couldn't help but turn away. When I turned back, someone was still leaning on my arm, but it wasn't him.

It was Zelda.

I was too speechless to say anything.

"Listen…" she said quietly.

"No," I said quickly. "We have to help you." I went to pick her up. But she put a hand on mine and held it down.

"I don't have long," she said. "So listen now." She took another few moments. "Your little girlfriend…Malon, I think her name is…she had more impact on the…"

"She's not my girlfriend," I said quickly.

She ignored my argument and went on. "She had a major impact on the fate of Hyrule. If she had stayed at the ranch, and not slept for those seven years, during that time she would have befriended a young girl her age. That girl had lived all her life with abusive parents, bullies at school, and no friends. She was willing to do anything risky. She always said in her mind that she'd do anything risky if she had to, because if she died, there would be nothing she'd miss and no one who would miss her."

"Where is this going?"

Zelda took a deep breath. I put a hand on her lap to comfort her a bit. It didn't seem to work. "Befriending Malon would have changed her view on life forever. Malon's innocent and happy demeanor would have cheered her up. She would have become a potion-maker at Kakariko Village. (_A/N: Yes, I'm referring to that freaky one you take the mushroom to in the Trading Game for the Biggy Sword. I'm assuming that's a female) _But because Malon was gone, her view won life remained dark, and she fell into the hands of Ganondorf himself." She paused, as if saying the name had hurt her. "She was willing to do anything he said. And he said…he said to find and kill me."

I couldn't say anything. I couldn't even think anything at that moment. But I managed to muster up the stupidest words I could have said at that time. "And…and she succeeded."

Zelda nodded slowly. "Yes, she did. But, Link, Malon's disappearance affected more than you think, not just me and the ranch…"

"What else did she affect?"

"Link…I can't…say anymore…" I was losing her.

"NO! You HAVE to let me help you." I reached into my bag to get my last fairy out.

She pulled my bag away and held it out of my reach. "No, Link. It's better I die than you waste your fairy and die later."

"But…"

"Link, you're the Hero of Time. All I am is the Heir to the throne of Hyrule and the Seventh Sage. Another heir can be found…and even in death, I can still be the Seventh Sage. The only thing you'll be missing…" Her breath suddenly became quicker and shallower. "…is Sheik…" She closed her eyes.

"Zelda, NO!"

"Good luck, Link. Tell Malon…I said…Hi…" She had said something casual, as if this were a normal conversation. But that was the last thing she ever said. He head fell limp.

All I could do was sit there and hold her in my arms. I knew I had to be strong, but I decided it wasn't important now and let tears fall. She was gone…I couldn't believe it. The woman I had loved was gone…

I heard footsteps behind me. I put Zelda down quickly, turned, and drew my sword and shield, all in one fluid motion. But then I saw who it was, and my grip on my sword loosened.

"I knew this would happen," Impa said. "In a matter of time." She kneeled down and picked Zelda up. "But this is the way it was meant to be." She took her gaze from Zelda to me. "Link, I'm sorry. Despite this turn of events, your mission must continue."

I nodded, not saying a word. Quickly I ran over and hookshotted myself up to the temple. I ran in, no regard for my safety on my mind. All I wanted to do at that moment was die.

The Forest Temple was fairly easy, and it only took me a few hours to clear. It was easier than the Deku Tree, which was odd. But the whole time, I felt as if I wasn't alone. I came up with one conclusion…Zelda was with me.

Saria was the sage of the forest. I was glad to know she was safe and her death wasn't brought on my Malon's disappearance. She gave me the forest medallion, and I found myself in the Lost Woods again. But now, music was playing. The forest seemed cheerful again…

…Unlike me. The only thing on my mind was Zelda's face as she died in my arms. I even made the pigs stop in confusion as I just walked right by them. They seemed surprised that I didn't care if they were going to pummel me to death and stab me with their spears. Actually, I didn't care. I wanted to die.

But at the same time, I didn't. Then the rest of Hyrule would be gone just the same, and that was even worse.

And Malon. Malon was my friend, and I didn't want to leave her.

I spent the next two days resting at Kakariko Village. The temple had taken a toll on me, and so had Zelda's death. All I wanted was to be able to think about something else besides her for a few minutes, at least.

On my second day, after it got dark, I decided it was time to contact Malon. I wanted to make sure she was okay. I couldn't afford to lose another person. Plus, I had to tell her what had happened.

I took out my Ocarina as soon as I got into my room at the inn. I played Saria's song. Everything became silent. Even the talk of people downstairs faded away.

Then the silence disappeared. "Link? Link, is that you?"

"Yeah, Saria, it's me," I thought to her. "Could you contact Malon for me? Connect us so we can talk?"

"But how? Does she have an ocarina?"

"Yeah, the fairy one you gave me. Don't worry; She'll take care of it."

"Okay."

There was another moment of silence as I waited to hear Malon's voice. The silence faded, to be replaced by a really quiet sound. It sounded like flowing water. Was Malon already at the river?

Apparently she didn't know what was going on, so I became the first to speak. Or, actually, think.

"Malon? Malon, are you there? It's me, Link!"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Malon yelled, "LINK! Where are you? Are you okay? What's going on!"

"Malon, I have some really bad news. I found Zelda and Impa."

"The ones that ran away on that horse seven years ago?" She remembered. I thought she would forget about that. I had told her about it on our way to Hyrule Castle, while we were still kids.

"Yeah."

"But what's so bad about that?"

"Malon, they're not the same group as they used to be. Zelda is dead."

No response.

"Malon? Malon, where are you!"

Silence. Not even the sound of water was there anymore.

I put my ocarina away. "That can't be good."

I started running. I had to if I was going to get to Gerudo Valley and find her anytime soon.

* * *

_So ends chapter 4. (Extra tip: You don't have to kill the piggy things to get through the maze! Just play the scarecrow song as you stand in the first "hiding place". Navi should turn green. A scarecrow will appear, and you can Hookshot yourself up to the top and jump all the way across. Now, the big hammer guy…You're on your own :-P)_

_Sorry for all you Zelda lovers, I really am! It's not like I hate Zelda, I promise, I don't! I just wanted to keep the story interesting and original. Tell me if I've achieved my goal! Thanks!_


	5. Malon: Found

_Chapter 5! Woo-hoo! I'm sorry it took a while to review, I really am! I just haven't been in the mood to write. The third person in this chapter will be in italics. Note for the Future: Other points of view will be labeled and in bold. Okay, let's go…

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**Chapter 5 – Malon: Found**

"_Who is she?" she asked worriedly._

"_I don't know. I just found her by the river with a huge gash on her shoulder."_

"_Did you treat it?"_

"_Yeah. It should heal within a few days or so."_

"_How did she get by the river?"_

"_Well, the portal is right at the river…"_

_There was a brief moment of silence. Then the girl asked, "Do you think she's from…?"_

"_I think so," he said, interrupting._

"_But why would one of her kind be here!" she yelled._

"_I don't know."_

"_Where is she now?"_

"_Sleeping."_

"_Where?" she asked loudly. "She can't be sleeping in the d…"_

"_No, she's not. She's in the extra room. I have blankets and what-not. That's what they sleep on."_

"_Why would you have blankets?"_

"_Past visitors…the council confiscated their things, and some had things for sleep. They didn't want them, so I took them in case something like this would happen."_

"_You planned on housing one of them when you found one?"_

_He ignored her question._

"_She's not welcome."_

"_Not by the council. But we can keep her here until she heals..."_

"_But, Kyle…"_

"_If we send her off right now with that injury, she'll never make it three steps out of this home."_

"_But if we keep her here and the council finds out we're housing one of their kind…You know the consequences!"_

"_Yes, Felicia, I know, but…"_

"_Of course," Felicia said angrily, crossing her arms._

"_Of course, what!"_

"_You want to keep her here because you think she's cute, don't you?"_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_She's not one of us, and yet you're willing to care of her. You don't even know her name!"_

"_Not yet."_

"_Psh." Felicia turned quickly and ran down the slant to where she slept. Though she was stomping as hard as she could to show her anger, her bare feet made little sound._

_Once again, Kyle had done nothing, but, still, he had made his sister mad at him. And, again, she'd be over it in a few hours._

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly. I felt soft blankets under me and on me. But the ground through the sheets was hard and bumpy. Where was I? I was supposed to be finding the cure for my father. I was supposed to be going to Gerudo Valley. I was supposed to…

I sat up quickly, but a massive wave of pain from my shoulder made me fall back down into bed. Plus, I hit my head on a low ceiling. I put my hand over my shoulder tightly and looked at it. It was covered in bandages. Some of the blood was seeping through. A think line of it was clearly there.

I didn't know what happened, but I knew it happened as fell. Something…or someone…had cut me…badly…And someone had healed me.

Then I realized that I didn't have my shirt on anymore. Instead, a ragged brown cloth was wrapped around my midsection, failing to cover a lot of my belly. I checked under the covers. My shorts were still there.

Then I looked around me. I was in a small cave, just small enough to house about two people, if they both stayed low. The ceiling, I knew, would hit me as soon as I sat up, so I sat up slowly, turning as I went onto my belly. I crawled toward the opening at the end of the cave.

When I made it through, the ceiling was high enough for me to stand. I was still in a small cave-like hallway. I walked through it. At the end of the hallway was a cloth like the one I was wearing, acting as a door. I pulled it aside and walked through.

I was inside what looked like a normal one-roomed home. The walls were plain wood. The floor was also wood, but had pieces of cloth like the one in the doorway spread in places on it, like rugs. On the left wall from where I was facing was another doorway blocked by a cloth. There was one table in the middle of the floor. Other than that, there was no furniture. At the table there were two chairs…and someone was sitting in one.

He was a well-built man, looking to be about 20 years old. His skin was slightly tan. His hair was black with silver tips, short and spiked. He wore a simple brown short-sleeved shirt with grey pants.

"Have a good rest? How's your shoulder?"

I walked over to the table, but didn't sit down. I put my hand on my shoulder and looked at it again. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt, at least."

He motioned toward the empty seat. "Please, sit."

I did as he said.

"So, did you have a good sleep?"

"Sort of," I said. "I'm not really used to sleeping on rocks."

"Well, you're lucky you got the blankets," he said, smiling. "We don't use blankets."

"You just sleep on the bare ground?"

He nodded. "Yep."

"How do you stand that?" I stretched out my back to get normal feeling in it again.

"Well, I guess we're just used to it. We sleep like that from birth."

"Doesn't it…I don't know...Make your back hurt or something?"

"No. We sort of sleep curled in a ball."

I pictured a family of people sleeping on the ground, in a small cave, curled up in balls…The image made me wonder about these people and their lifestyles, but I didn't ask about it.

I decided to change the subject. I gestured down to the rag wrapped around me. "Where is my shirt?"

"There was no hope left for that shirt. It was covered in blood and stains from the dirty ground I found you on. Plus it was ripped in multiple places. I had no choice but to toss it."

I looked down at myself. "Is this what all the women here wear?"

He paused for a moment, as if my sentence didn't make any sense to him. "No. It was just an old top my sister doesn't wear anymore."

"Who changed me?" I asked, suddenly thinking of the issue.

"I did."

I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought of a strange man undressing me while I was laying there unconscious.

He smiled. "Don't worry, I didn't do anything to you. All I did was heal your cut."

I put my hand back onto my shoulder. "How did I get cut anyway?"

"I think you hit a tree branch as you fell." He looked at the ground, pausing for a moment. "Um…mind if I ask you a question?"

I shifted in my seat to make myself more comfortable. "Yeah...sure…What is it?"

He looked up at me with a serious and solemn look on his face. "Where are you from?"

I stared at him. There was something in his eyes that hit me, some emotion that was directed right at me. It wasn't anger, love, or sadness…Then I realized what it was. It was fear. But why would he be afraid of me?

"I'm from Hyrule."

He looked back down at the ground and closed his eyes tightly, as if trying to shut me out of his thoughts. "What are you doing here?" It sounded almost angry.

"My father is deathly ill," I explained. "And I was told there was a cure here…"

"Ah…" he said in realization. "…another one…"

I looked at him with a confused expression on my face. "Another one? What do you mean?"

He looked up at me. This time the look he gave me was a mix of fear and sadness. But it was still mostly fear. "Unlike Hyrule, we don't have a king or queen. No one family or person rules us. Every pa…I mean, family…has a group of people who get together with groups from other…families…" He said the word "family" as if he'd never said it before. "These groups get together and they form what we call a council. They discuss any problems this world may have, and they all agree on things before we do anything. We always work together."

"Wow," I said. "That sounds nice. You know, wolves work like that, too…" I looked at him. His face was turned away now. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, you didn't," he said quickly. "Look, my point is, people from your world…they're not welcome here."

"Why not? What did we ever do to you people?"

"I don't know. I'm not in a position to know that. But my kind fears your kind. Any one of your kind found here is immediately executed."

I was beginning to dislike this place a lot. "So why am I still alive?"

He stood up and walked toward the door. He turned back to me. "Because I don't think your kind is all bad. I want to convince my people that yours are not as horrible as they think they are."

I stood up. "How would you know we're not horrible?"

He opened the door. "Because I'm good friends with someone you know, someone from Hyrule."

"Really? Who?"

Before I could even finish asking, he was already out the door.

I heard the rustle of a cloth curtain behind me. I turned to see who it was. It was a girl. She was about a head taller than me. Her hair was a silver-ish color, bordering between a shiny silver and a dull silver. It reached just below her shoulders. There was a line of black running along from left to right around her neck on her hair. She wore a tight black belly-shirt and black pants. Her eyes were a piercing blue color. She stared at me with anger so intense I thought it would burn a hole right through me. I assumed that this was the man's sister.

"Umm…hi." I held out my hand. Even though she scared the crap out of me, I thought that if I could get on her good side, she'd stop glaring at me. Or at least I wanted to stay off of her bad side, if I wasn't there already.

She looked down at my hand with disgust. I drew it back and put it by my side. "I'm Malon. I…"

"I know who you are," she spat back at me. "You're one of them. The people from Hyrule. The people who killed so many of mine. The people who consider us filthy animals with no place in the world."

"But none of us have ever met you. How could we have…?"

"You're just a mere girl, who has no idea of her world's history, aren't you? You don't know what happened to separate my kind and yours."

"But I didn't do anything…"

"All you had to do was be born one of them, and I'd already hate you."

I looked down at the ground. I thought that if I argued anymore, she'd kill me right on the spot.

"Can I ask you one question?"

"_Psh._ Fine, if you must."

I looked up at her. The anger was still showing, more vibrant than before. "If I could prove to you that my people aren't all bad, would you change your mind about hating us?'

She thought for a moment. Her angry expression didn't change, but I knew she was surprised by my question. "If you can, I'll try. But it has to be good proof, not some stupid excuse."

I nodded. "Okay."

She headed for the door. As she opened the door, she said, "But before you go looking for and good proof, I suggest you learn the history of our people, and of yours."

"How will I…?"

"The council could tell you. But if they see you, they'll execute you right on the spot. So you'll have to send my brother. At least he gets along with them more than I do."

"Who's your brother?"

"Did you see a man at the table this morning, thinking?"

"Yeah. I talked to him a bit, too."

"Okay. He should be back soon. He went out for fresh air, as I am going to do now. But you'll have to talk to him before six. That's when all of our kind goes out to…" She broke off. "Just, talk to him soon." With that, she left.

I was left alone once again, puzzled and confused as ever. Whatever was going on with these people, I was intent to find out. But I couldn't do anything now. I had to wait for the man to get back. I sat down in one of the chairs at the table, and I waited for a few hours.

The house was silent except for my quiet breathing. I got up every now and then to stretch. Once I got up, I saw a dark figure standing in the window. As soon as I had looked up it had ran away. Suspicious, but I didn't think anything of it.

A few hours later, the door opened. My first instinct was to run and hide. If it wasn't one of the people I'd met already, it'd be stranger who would either turn me in or kill me. But then I realized that I had nothing to hide behind, so I just sat there, staring as the door opened.

The man I'd talked to in the morning ran in from behind the door. He looked over to me. His expression was full of fear and panic. He ran over to me and grabbed me by the hand. He lifted me up and led me to the door.

I tried to free myself from his grasp, but his grim was firm. "What's going on!"

He looked back at me after he peeked out through the small opening he had left in the door. "A member of the council found out you're here. She's going to tell the rest of them and they'll come to get you. They'll also get me and my sister for not turning you in the second we found you."

My eyes widened. This girl he was talking about must have been the dark figure I was in the window a few hours ago. "What will happen if they find us?"

"We'll all die. You, me, and Felicia."

"Felicia?" Then it hit me. "Oh, your sister?"

"I take it you've met her?"

"Yeah," I mumbled.

There was a brief moment when he smiled and looked at me. "Don't worry. She should eventually warm up to you."

"Doubt it," I said.

He laughed a bit. Then the happiness was wiped away when he slammed the door shut.

"They're here. Already." He dragged me out to a door across the room. We went through it, and we were outside, right at the edge of a dark forest.

"We're going in there!"

He nodded. "Yes." He was staring into the forest. "I can't see anything like this." H turned to me. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this." He balled his hand into a fist and raised it above my head.

"Wait, what…?"

I was cut off when he slammed his fist into the top of my head. MY head immediately stopped throbbing, but my awareness of the pain and what was going on around me faded away as I started falling. The man caught me. My last thought was, "I'm getting knocked out a lot."

Then everything was black…again.

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_YAY! FINALLY! I'm done with chapter 5! I'm SO sorry for the long time it took to review. I've just been preoccupied with other things lately. But, as I promised, I got it done as fast as I could. Please review! Thank you!_


	6. Link: Reunion

_Yet another chapter…Hopefully it isn't boring or anything, hehe…_

_I haven't done this in a while...Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own any of Zelda's characters

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**Chapter 6 – Link: Reunion**

The trip to Gerudo Valley didn't take long; I knew my way through these fields. When I approached the still-broken bridge, I sensed that something was wrong. I looked around to see if I could find someone who might know where Malon went.

Then I saw a young Gerudo girl, about Malon's age, leaning over the cliff over the river. It looked like she was going to jump.

"Wait! No!" I ran over to her. She slowly turned her head to look up at me. She looked a bit shaken.

"Something wrong?"

"I was just about to ask you that. What are you doing?"

"Watching the girl go down the hole."

I just stared, confused. Hearing about a girl falling down a hole…and this girl watching it, was a little…nerve-wracking.

But wait…maybe it was Malon. "What did this girl look like? How tall was she? Did she have an annoying fairy with her!"

"Shhhh! Calm down." She stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants. "She was just a little taller than me, had long red hair, and…if I recall, she did have a fairy…" She chuckled. "…Whom she stuffed into her bag when it wouldn't stop yelling."

"That's her! Where is she!"

She sighed. "She went down there." She pointed down at the river. "By that crate, there's a hole…I presume you'll be going after her?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Her face was sad again. "I appreciate your concern, but I know how to take care of myself. Besides…" I approached the edge and prepared for a dive. "…I know someone from there. If I find them, it should make it easier on me."

Her eyes grew wide. That startled image of her face was the last expression I saw of hers, for I jumped down into the water before she could protest. The dive was long, and the entry was clean…clean into the ground.

I floated back up, gasping for air. I put my hand on my head and rubbed it. "Oww…"

Then I looked around and was the crate. I dove, and sure enough, there was the hole. I swam over and dove down in.

I started falling once I was through the hole. My clothes were dry, and the water was gone. It was like I was falling through a dark night sky.

Pretty soon I could see a speck of light at the end of the tunnel, or whatever it was. I got closer, and once I was right in the light, it engulfed me. I covered my eyes to protect them.

A chill breeze hit me, and a chill went down my spine. But I was still falling. I opened my eyes and saw I was in a dark, creepy swamp. But my fall was suddenly stopped when something tugged at the back of my tunic. I was just hanging there. I turned around to see that a tree had caught me. I tried to bounce myself free, and I fell to the ground. Unfortunately, and chunk of my tunic was left behind, and my back was now colder than before.

"Dang it!" I yelled in frustration, standing up. "That was my green tunic, too!"

Cursing lightly under my breath, I quickly changed into my red tunic, hoping it would keep me a little warmer. Then I looked around.

The fog was dense, and the ground below my feet was squishy and wet. I looked around and saw no signs of life…Figures…Who would _want_ to live here, anyway?

_Grrrrr_

I turned and saw nothing. But I knew that I had heard something.

_Grrrr_

There is was again…I turned quickly, drawing my sword and shield. "Who's there! Better yet, _what's_ there!"

A dark, slouched figure started to come out from the shadows. I tightened my grip on my sword. As it got closer, I could make out what it was a bit easier. It looked like a dog…a huge dog.

It crouched down, ready to pounce. I held my shield up, my sword behind my, ready to strike a hard, swift blow. The dog pounced, and I hid my face behind my shield to protect it. But I made sure I could see the figure with at least one eye.

As it flew through the air toward him, it began to change shape. Its body grew longer and slimmer, with fewer muscles. Its nose shrunk back and became shorter, and all of its fur disappeared.

I smirked behind my shield. The figure was still flying toward my, but it was now losing altitude and speed. Pretty soon it was an inch away…and at that moment, I stood straight up and put my sword away.

The figure landed on its front limbs and did a front flip, landing on its hind limbs again. It turned to face me, grinning.

"Show-off," I teased. "I see you've been practicing."

The figure nodded, coming closer. Now I could make out its features easier. It had dark black hair with silver tips. It had more muscles than Link remembered.

"I see you've been working out."

"Well, it takes muscles to do a flip like that!"

I laughed. Then, remembering my situation, my smile faded. "Look, Kyle, have you seen a girl, about…a head shorter than me, long read hair…"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, she at my house, resting."

I nodded. "But what about that law thing? And that…council whatchamacallit?"

Kyle laughed at my choice of words. I laughed a little, too. "I don't think those laws are right…I mean, what was in the past is in the past. We should forget our differences and become friends."

I put an arm over Kyle's shoulders. "Like we did!" I yelled proudly.

Kyle nodded. "Yep, like we did." He lifted my arm off of him and started walking away. "Now, you wanna go see your girlfriend or not?"

I ran after him. "Hey! She's not my girlfriend!"

"_Psh._ You seem to care about her a lot…"

"Whatever, man!"

We walked through a dark, dense forest. It was extremely chilly, even with my red tunic on. The trees looked…purple…and the grass was a sickly-looking green. A couple of times, I stepped in something squishy, and I didn't dare ask what it was.

Kyle laughed at me.

"What?" I asked between shivers. "What did I do?"

"Now I see why we live in two different worlds. You can't handle the climate here."

"Haha. Well, I seem to recall a certain someone lying on the ground due to overheating when he was stuck in my world."

He laughed again. "True, true." There was a brief pause. "Maybe that's why no one tries to mend the feud between our races…Because there's no point, seeing as we can't all live in one place. We're too adapted to our own climates."

"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe it's just that my people are afraid that you'll eat them!"

"We don't eat people," he said, smirking. "…Unless we're starving and a person is the closest source of food."

I took a step away from him. "You…ate this morning…right?"

He laughed. "Yes, I ate, but I wouldn't eat you!"

I smiled. "Good." I looked up. We were so busy talking that I hadn't realized we were out of the forest.

"Umm…are you sure no one will see me?"

Kyle nodded. "Everyone is in town shopping this time of day."

"Okay, then what is the large group of people doing right there?" I pointed in front of us.

He looked, and his eyes grew wide. There was a large mob of people heading into the forest…the normal-looking, livable one.

"That's not good," he said.

"Why? There not looking at me."

"But they'll be looking at Malon when they see her inside my home."

"WHAT!"

"Stay here, hide behind that bush."

"But…"

"Just do it!" He ran over to the mob.

Sighing, I did as I was told. Last time I checked, I wasn't the creature here. He went over and had one member of the mob stop as the rest went on. It seems that that's all he could stop. The man he stopped had an angry look on his face. They talked for a few moments, and the man got tired of it and joined the others. With a worried look on his face, Kyle ran back to me.

"Someone saw Malon in my living room through the window and reported her. If they find her, both her and I, maybe my sister, will be killed."

I stood up. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't stand here while Malon is a sitting duck for a pack of ravenous wolves." I started to run after the mob, but Kyle held me back.

"Don't! If they see you, you'll be joining Malon. You won't be able to save her." He ran back into the forest the mob was in, down a ways, so we couldn't be seen. "Follow me. We can beat them to my house."

He shape-shifted and started running. "Hey! That's not fair! I can't do that!"

He stopped and returned to his human form. "Go deep into the forest. Really deep…I'll go get Malon and return with her."

"How will you find me?"

"Are you kidding? I'll sniff you out."

Hearing a man in front of me say that was a little weird, and I suppressed a laugh. "Right." He turned to go, but before he could leave, I said, "For your own sake, you better not come back without Malon."

He nodded and ran off, shifting once more.

I took a deep breath, and started running aimlessly into the forest.

I don't know how long I ran, but I knew I ran far…and a little too fast to see where I was going. I ran into branches a few times, as if the trees were trying to keep me from going deeper. I also tripped over a few tree roots and rocks. The forest was definitely not my friend…

Both my legs and my overly-slapped face had had enough, and I decided to stop. I sat down on a flat rock that worked as a chair. I looked around, and the sight behind me was surprising.

I had run all the way through the forest. Well, almost. There were a few yards worth of trees before there was no forest. Outside of the forest, I saw a clear, flowing river. Beyond the river were just green plains that stretched so far that I couldn't see an end to them.

"Hm, good job Link," I said to myself. "You ran so far that you almost left your hiding place."

A while later, (I didn't know exactly how long) there was a rustling in the bushes. I looked toward it. Whatever was coming, it was getting closer. I stood up and put my hand on my sword tightly, ready to draw it if need be.

A wolf came out…Big surprise, this place was full of them. It had silver fur with a black line around its neck.

It growled at me, showing its teeth. I drew my sword as, in my mind, I prayed that this thing had already eaten.

"Umm…good puppy…nice puppy…stay, puppy…"

It growled even louder. But then it seemed to smile at me. I started at it, confused. "Umm…hi…I'm Link…"

The wolf started to shift. Its bones cracked as they changed shapein a way that I never wanted to hear again. It was gross. They became a thin figure. I looked up and saw that it was a girl. She had silver hair with a black streak that reached right below her shoulders. She wore tight black pants and a black belly shirt.

"Hello, Link," she said quietly. "What brings you here?"

I put my sword away. "Felicia, don't hate me."

"Why on earth would I hate you?"

"B-Because last time we met you sorta…creeped me out…and then when I explained that…you're a wolf…and I'm…not…You threatened to bite my head of, literally, if you ever saw me again." She went to sit down on the rock, and I moved away. If I could protect my head from being torn off, I would.

"Oh, that was a long time ago. Please," she said, patting the rock next to her. "…sit."

"Um, no, that's okay. I'll stay over here…" I moved behind a tree. "Waaay over here. It's cooler over here."

She stood up and walked toward me. "Link, you have a few scratches on your face. Here, let me help."

"No thanks," I said, walking around the tree to avoid her. Then I walked backwards so I could see where she was. "I – I'll do it myself later."

"But it could get infected if you wait." She continued to advance toward me, I continued to back away.

"It's okay, I have medicine, and I can heal an infection…" I tripped over the big rock behind me and did a flip back wards. I landed on my front side, my chin now propped up on the rock.

"Ow…" I mumbled.

Felicia ran over to me and kneeled down. I was in too much pain to move. "Oh, are you okay?" He put an arm over my back to comfort me. Honestly, it creeped me out.

"Go…away…" I said with what strength I had left.

"But then you could get hurt again, and then who'd take care of you?"

"His girlfriend would."

Felicia looked up. I just sat there, seeing as moving my head would scrape my chin on the rock. I just listened.

"Why is she here? Why are YOU here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Felicia."

Felicia made a "_Hmph"_ noise.

"She was almost discovered, so I had to hide her and I brought her here." There was a pause."Where's Link?"

"Behind the rock," I mumbled. "And in pain."

Someone ran over and picked me up. By now, almost my whole body was bruised and it hurt to move.

"Link, what happened?" Kyle asked me as he laid me down on the ground.

"I tripped," I said.

"I see…" he said. "Well, in case you're in too much pain to look, I brought Malon."

I turned my head to see her laying on the ground next me.

"What'd you do to her?"

"Sorry, I had to knock her out. I don't think she's ready to know my race's secret, and I had to shift in order to find you. Why'd you run this far anyway?"

"I just ran," I said. "Without looking where I was going, I ran…and I ran into branches and tripped over stuff, too."

He laughed. "I see that. Well, Felicia and I will find a place for us to sleep nearby."

"What? We're staying here?" Felicia yelled.

"Well, the whole town is searching for you, me, and Malon. If they find any of us then they'll likely find the rest. Plus, there's Link they don't know about yet, and we should keep it that way. Now let's go."

"Fine." They both shifted and left. I took the quiet time to relax, and, despite the throbbing pain throughout my body, I fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up, my face felt wet and cold, and I opened my eyes.

Malon was over me, wiping my face with a wet rag.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said quietly.

"It's morning already?"

"Yeah, you slept for almost a whole day!" She wrung out the cloth in the dirt next to my head and placed in on a nearby rock. "So what are you doing here? What about Hyrule?"

"I came for you. When our connection with the ocarinas was cut off, I had to make sure you were okay." My eyes went to the bandage on her shoulder. "What happened!"

She put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, that…A tree cut me as I fell into the swamp…place."

"I see. I guess that was the same tree that killed my green tunic."

"Aww, your green one? That was your favorite!" She smiled.

"Yeah, it was, but I'll live. I can always get a new one."

"Or I could fix it." She grinned.

"I left the cloth that's supposed to be in the hole back on the tree."

"I'll use something else."

I smiled. "Okay. Thanks."

"Your welcome!"

There was a long silence, and I decided to break it. "Nice top," I said, eyeing her new tube-top made of a ragged cloth…which had a few holes in it.

She held her hand on my eyes. "Link!"

"Hey, come on," I said, grabbing her hand and holding it away from my eyes so I could see. "I was just picking."

She stood up and walked away. "Sure you were!"

"Hey!" I tried to stand up, but I still ached a little bit. "That's not fair, I can't move!"

"Oh well!" she called behind her.

"Hey! Malon!"

I decided to give up trying to get up and I laid there and closed my eyes. Then I opened my eyes to see big blue eyes staring down at me. I gasped.

"Don't you dare go to sleep again!"

"I'm not, I'm not." I managed to sit myself up and lean back on a rock. Malon sat next to me.

"Hey, I hear Felicia likes you!"

I coughed. "Yeah, I…heard…too…"

She leaned forward to look at my face. "What's wrong? Don't you like her?"

"Well, no…"

"Why not? Well…I don't like her because she hates me more than she did before…I don't know why…but why don't you like her?"

"She's a stalker and a…" I stopped myself before breaking my promise to Kyle to keep it a secret. "She just creeps me out."

She laughed. "Is that all, or do you just like someone else?"

I looked over at her. She was watching me with those big blue eyes, waiting for my answer. Maybe I did like someone else. I didn't know…

Then I remembered Zelda.

"Malon…there's something I have to tell you…"

Her happy, cheerful look faded when she sensed that something was wrong. "Link, what is it?"

"It's Zelda…she's dead."

Malon just stared, speechless. She managed to say a few words…"W-why? What happened?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

"I'm sorry Link. I know she was…special…to you…" she mumbled

I looked at her again. There was a sad look in her eyes, but I couldn't make out exactly what it meant. A tear trickled down her face. I wiped it away.

"Malon, what is it?"

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. "It's nothing." She stood up. "I'm going to go see how Felicia and Kyle are doing." She walked away. As she walked away, I heard her coughing. Hopefully she wasn't getting sick...

Malon seemed to do that a lot…She'd be sad, start crying, and for no apparent reason…Or at least, no reason that I could figure out.

There was a rustling in the bushes. _Please be a bunny,_ I yelled in my head. I stood up and reached for my sword…but it was gone. Kyle must have taken it off when I was sleeping. The idiot. What was I supposed to use to defend myself, my hat?

It turned out that it was a bunny…With a sigh of relief, I sat down.

I looked up as Kyle ran over to me. "Link, we have a problem!"

I stood up. "What, what is it?"

"Malon didn't get cut by a tree," he said.

"Umm...that's bad?"

"Yes, it's bad because of what she DID get cut with!"

He ran back deeper into the forest. I followed.

Soon we could see Felicia.

"She's right here," she said, pointing to the ground next to her feet.

I ran over. Malon was on the ground. I kneeled down next to her. Her breathing was shallow. She was a cold sweat, and she was extremely pale. It was as if she was different person from the one I had seenaminute ago.

"What happened?" I yelled, looking up a Kyle.

Kyle picked up Malon's bag and dumped it out. The ocarina, the bow, the arrows, the Kokiri Sword, the red potions, and Navi all fell out. What caught my eye was an additional arrow. I picked it up.

The wood was rough and damp. It was a dark brown color with a red tint in it. I assumed that the red tint was blood. The point was grey and made of rock. But what was interesting about it was that the tip was a bright green color. I touched the green tip, and some of the green color was now on my finger. It was a gooey substance. I wiped it off on the ground.

"What does this mean?"

"Malon was shot with this arrow, and it went into her bag instead of her shoulder." He held up the bag to reveal a hole. "Someone tried to hit her shoulder, but all they did was scratch it. Luckily for them, that's all they needed. That arrow is poisoned."

"But doesn't that mean…?"

He nodded. "If we don't find the cure, Malon will die in a matter of hours."

* * *

_I feel like my story's getting less interesting by each chapter…but I have to come up with a new twist to the plot. Don't worry, I'm working on it. Anyway, please review this chapter. Thanks! Byes!_


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